DOCSLIB.ORG

2019 Version of Attached Le: Published Version Peer-Review Status of Attached Le: Peer-Reviewed Citation for Published Item: Berthaume, Michael A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
2019 Version of Attached Le: Published Version Peer-Review Status of Attached Le: Peer-Reviewed Citation for Published Item: Berthaume, Michael A Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 29 May 2019 Version of attached le: Published Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Berthaume, Michael A. and Winchester, Julia and Kupczik, Kornelius (2019) 'Eects of cropping, smoothing, triangle count, and mesh resolution on 6 dental topographic metrics.', PLoS ONE., 14 (5). e0216229. Further information on publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216229 Publisher's copyright statement: Copyright: c 2019 Berthaume et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk RESEARCH ARTICLE Effects of cropping, smoothing, triangle count, and mesh resolution on 6 dental topographic metrics 1,2,3 4 2 Michael A. BerthaumeID *, Julia Winchester , Kornelius KupczikID 1 Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, 2 Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, 3 Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom, 4 Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, a1111111111 United States of America a1111111111 a1111111111 * [email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract Dental topography is a widely used method for quantifying dental morphology and inferring dietary ecology in animals. Differences in methodology have brought into question the com- OPEN ACCESS parability of different studies. Using primate mandibular second molars, we investigated the Citation: Berthaume MA, Winchester J, Kupczik K (2019) Effects of cropping, smoothing, triangle effects of mesh preparation parameters smoothing, cropping, and triangle count/mesh reso- count, and mesh resolution on 6 dental lution (herein, resolution) on six topographic variables (Dirichlet normal energy, DNE; orien- topographic metrics. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0216229. tation patch count rotated, OPCR; relief index, RFI; ambient occlusion, portion de ciel https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216229 visible, PCV; enamel surface area, SA; tooth size) to determine the effects of smoothing, Editor: Alistair Robert Evans, Monash University, cropping, and triangle count/resolution on topographic values and the relationship between AUSTRALIA these values and diet. All topographic metrics are sensitive to smoothing, cropping method, Received: December 4, 2018 and triangle count/resolution. In general, smoothing decreased DNE, OPCR, RFI, and SA, Accepted: April 16, 2019 increased PCV, and had no predictable effect on tooth size. Relative to the basin cut off Published: May 6, 2019 (BCO) cropping method, the entire enamel cap (EEC) method increased RFI, SA, and size, and had no predictable effect on DNE and OPCR. Smoothing and cropping affected DNE/ Copyright: © 2019 Berthaume et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the OPCR and surfaces with low triangle counts more than other metrics and surfaces with high Creative Commons Attribution License, which triangle counts. There was a positive correlation between DNE/OPCR and triangle count/ permits unrestricted use, distribution, and resolution, and the rate of increase was weakly correlated to diet. PCV tended to converge reproduction in any medium, provided the original or decrease with increases in triangle count/resolution, and RFI, SA, and size converged. author and source are credited. Finally, there appears to be no optimal triangle count or resolution for predicting diet from Data Availability Statement: Original data are this sample, and constant triangle count appeared to perform better than constant resolution available from Morphosource (http:// morphosource.org/). Interested researchers can for predicting diet. produce the same datasets the authors did by following the protocol dictated in this study. Funding: This grant was funded by the Max Planck Society. Competing interests: The authors have declared Introduction that no competing interests exist. Dental ecology, the study of interactions between an organism's teeth and its environment, Abbreviations: BCO, basin cut off; DNE, Dirichlet provides a link between teeth, diet, and behavior [1]. As teeth are the most common element normal energy; EEC, entire enamel cap; MicroCT, of the fossil record, dental morphology has been a primary way of inferring ecology and PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216229 May 6, 2019 1 / 47 Dental topographic sensitivity analysis microcomputed tomography; OPCR, orientation behavior of extinct mammals (e.g., [2±4]). Advances in scanning methodologies and computer patch count rotated; PCV, ambient occlusion technologies have led to the development of new methods for quantifying dental morphology (portion de ciel visible or ªportion of visible skyº); to better understand dental ecology, with a focus on correlating postcanine mammalian tooth RFI, relief index; SA, surface area. shape and diet [5,6]. The relationship between tooth shape and diet is particularly strong in mammals, which chew their food prior to ingestion [7,8]. Mammals chew foods to increase their surface area to volume ratio and mix food particles with saliva, increasing swallowability and digestibility [8,9]. Chewing ability is often quantified using chewing efficiency, which measures particle size of foods after they are chewed [10]. Kay and Sheine were able to show how one aspect of postcanine tooth shape, relative shearing crest length, was positively correlated to chewing effi- ciency in small mammals [11±13]. This is because relatively longer shearing crests increase the cutting ability of a tooth. A derivative of this metric has been shown to be correlated to repro- ductive success in lemurs [14], and several researchers have hypothesized how this and other aspects of tooth shape may relate to dietary mechanical properties (e.g. [8,9,15±19]). This and related work have shown that, in primates, shearing crest length is longer in insectivores/foli- vores compared to omnivores/frugivores/hard object feeders [20±24]. This is because the calorically poor and difficult to digest insect chitin and plant fiber need to be chewed more completely. In omnivores, frugivores, and hard object feeders, other selective pressures (e.g., crushing ability, reduced risk of enamel fracture, food item stabilization) may be more impor- tant [13,16,20,22,25±28]. This is supported by a lack of correlation between hard food item fracture efficiency and hypothetical molars [19]. While highly successful, quantifying relative shearing crest length has two issues: it can only be performed on teeth with preserved shearing crests. This is problematic for worn teeth, and species without prominent shearing crests (e.g. Daubentonia madagascariensis) [20,23]. This problem is circumvented through the use of dental topographic methods [29]. Dental topogra- phy is a landmark free method of quantifying whole tooth shape, often with a single metric. Originally methodologically limited to the use of Geographic information systems (GIS), non- GIS metrics now exist [5,6,19,23,30±32]. Dental topographic metrics Four topographic metrics will be focused on here: Dirichlet normal energy (DNE), orientation patch count rotated (OPCR), relief index (RFI), and ambient occlusion (portion de ciel visible, PCV). DNE was first introduced by [23] as a measure for tooth curviness. Since curvier teeth are sharper, DNE can be used as a measure for tooth sharpness. Orientation patch count (OPC), a variant of OPCR, measures dental complexity. Originally, OPC was measured by lay- ing a 2.5D grid on the surface of teeth/tooth rows, giving each dental surface the same number of data rows and roughly the same number of polygons. The normal vector to each polygon was calculated, and polygons were binned based on the direction the normal vector pointed: anteriorly, anterior-medially, medially, etc. If three or more polygons with common edges were in the same bin, they formed a ªpatch.º More complex teeth had more patches [32,33]. To account for differences in scan orientation, OPCR was developed [34], which averages eight OPC values for eight tooth orientations. Mathematically, RFI is the ratio of a tooth's 3D surface area (herein, surface area) to 2D projected area, where projected area is tooth size [31]. Depending on the cropping method used (see below), RFI can either reflect relative tooth or cusp area. (Note, when the basin cropping method is used, some authors refer to RFI as occlusal relief, OR [24,35,36].) Rela- tively taller teeth/cusps have higher RFI values. RFI can be reported as a strict ratio, or
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Primate Group Size and Interpreting Socioecological Models: Do Folivores Really Play by Different Rules?
    Evolutionary Anthropology 16:94–106 (2007) ARTICLES Primate Group Size and Interpreting Socioecological Models: Do Folivores Really Play by Different Rules? TAMAINI V. SNAITH AND COLIN A. CHAPMAN Because primates display such remarkable diversity, they are an ideal taxon tion and group size. We conclude by within which to examine the evolutionary significance of group living and the ec- suggesting future refinements of both ological factors responsible for variation in social organization. However, as with empirical inquiry and theoretical any social vertebrate, the ecological determinants of primate social variability models that we hope will improve are not easily identified. Interspecific variation in group size and social organiza- our ability to adequately characterize tion results from the compromises required to accommodate the associative and the competitive regime and social or- dissociative forces of many factors, including predation,1–3 conspecific harass- ganization of folivorous primates. ment and infanticide,4–6 foraging competition1,7 and cooperation,8 dominance interactions,9 reproductive strategies, and socialization.10–12 Causative explana- tions have emerged primarily through the construction of theoretical models that EXPLANATORY MODELS OF organize the observed variation in primate social organization and group size rel- PRIMATE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION ative to measurable ecological variation.1,2,13–16 Early assessments of primate soci- oecology relied primarily on correla- In the first portion of this paper, tional analyses to examine the rela- Tamaini Snaith is a Ph.D. candidate in we take a historical perspective, Biology and Anthropology at McGill Uni- tionships between ecological and versity in Montreal. Her research has reviewing the development of exist- social variation, and generally cate- dealt with the behavior, ecology, and con- ing models of primate socioecology.
    [Show full text]
  • Diet Breadth Evolution and Diversification of a Generalist Insect Herbivore
    University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2018 Diet Breadth Evolution and Diversification of a Generalist Insect Herbivore Mayra Cadorin Vidal University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Cadorin Vidal, Mayra, "Diet Breadth Evolution and Diversification of a Generalist Insect Herbivore" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1463. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1463 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. DIET BREADTH EVOLUTION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF A GENERALIST INSECT HERBIVORE __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Mayra Cadorin Vidal June 2018 Advisor: Shannon M. Murphy © by Mayra Cadorin Vidal 2018 All Rights Reserved Author: Mayra Cadorin Vidal Title: DIET BREADTH EVOLUTION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF A GENERALIST INSECT HERBIVORE Advisor: Shannon M. Murphy Degree Date: June 2018 Abstract Insect herbivores are one of the most diverse groups of multicellular organisms, and the vast majority are specialists, which feed on only a few plant species. The factors that cause some herbivores to be specialists and others to be generalists are still unclear. It is known that the selective forces from natural enemies (top-down) and the host plants (bottom-up) influence an herbivore's diet breadth.
    [Show full text]
  • Adaptive Strategies of Primates in Relation to Leaf Eating Claude Marcel Hladik
    Adaptive strategies of primates in relation to leaf eating Claude Marcel Hladik To cite this version: Claude Marcel Hladik. Adaptive strategies of primates in relation to leaf eating. G.G. MONT- GOMERY. The Ecology of arboreal Folivores, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp.373-395, 1978. hal-00561744 HAL Id: hal-00561744 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00561744 Submitted on 12 Mar 2013 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. HLADIK C.M. (1978) — Adaptive strategies of primates in relation to leaf eating. In: G.G. MONTGOMERY (Ed.) The Ecology of arboreal Folivores. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington : 373-395. C. M. HLADIK Adaptive Strategies of Primates C.N.R .S . Laboratoire d'Ecologie du Muse um 4. in Relation to Leaf-eating Ave. du Petit Chateau 91800 Brunoy, France Acknowledgments Several ideas presented in this paper were developed during the exciting sessions of the Arboreal Folivore Conference for which Dr. G. G. Montgomery and the Smithsonian Institution must be warmly thanked. Thanks for improvement of the first draft also is due to Dr. Montgomery and to H . M. Cooper who had to follow my approximation of written English.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 2 — Ape Environments OVERVIEW Apes Live in a Variety of Biomes, from Dense Primary Tropical Forests to Grasslands
    Section 2 — Ape Environments OVERVIEW Apes live in a variety of biomes, from dense primary tropical forests to grasslands. They are found in Africa and Asia only. Apes play important roles in their habitats as predators and seed dispersers. In fact, studies have shown that chimpanzees and gorillas are essential seed dispersers in their habitats. Ape habitats are in peril today, as they are found in developing countries and sites of industry, including mining, logging, and unsustainable agriculture. As a result, ape habitats are becoming smaller and more fragmented. Ape populations can be found living in a range of biomes, from dense primary tropical forests (original tropical forest, compare to secondary forests that have been cut down and reforested), to grasslands, to swamps, to montane forests and several habitats in between. See page 27 for a map of the earth showing eight major biomes. Role of Apes in their Environments Apes interact with their environments in several essential roles: plants for the same natural resources. Seeds are dispersed as competitors, predators, and seed dispersers. mainly by wind, water and animals. The role of gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans in seed dispersal has been well While it has been observed that apes may prey on insects, researched. Their year-round, habitat-wide foraging behavior eggs, and, in the case of chimpanzees, hunt some mammals for makes them significant contributors to wide seed dispersal, food, apes can also be plant predators. Plant predation refers and has led some to describe them as keystone species to their to the destruction of plants through feeding on structural or environments.
    [Show full text]
  • NUTRITION and FEEDING Captive Animal Feeding Practices to Promote Good Animal Welfare
    NUTRITION AND FEEDING Captive animal feeding practices to promote good animal welfare. NUTRITION AND FEEDING AIMS To gain knowledge and understanding of: Why a nutritionally balanced diet is necessary to maintain the health of an animal. How dietary requirements vary between species and individuals based on a variety of factors. How food can be presented in a way that encourages natural feeding behaviours and why this is important. OBJECTIVES Identify what a nutritionally balanced diet is, depending on the species. Categorise different animal diets and link them to animal groups. Design food presentation strategies that encourage natural and rewarding behaviours. Connect hygienic food preparation with protection of good animal health. REASONING What and how animals are fed is a vital component of providing good animal care. Recognising that food and water provision is susceptible to contamination and compromise which can lead to an animal’s ill health. Realise that food presentation is very important to encourage natural feeding behaviours that the animal will find rewarding to undertake. providing appropriate food and water in captivity It is important that an appropriate, good quality diet and fresh water is provided daily. The diet provided for a zoo animal is fundamental to that animal's welfare, health and happiness. It is the zoo’s role to ensure an appropriate and nutritionally balanced diet is given to all animals in its care. Zootrition is a diet balancing database resource to use if you are unclear on what animals in your care should be eating and how to present it. Swapping diet sheets with other zoos and making comparisons with wild diets can help influence what an animal should be fed in captivity.
    [Show full text]
  • Behavioral and Feeding Ecology of a Small-Bodied Folivorous Primate (Lepilemur Leucopus)
    Behavioral and Feeding Ecology of a Small-bodied Folivorous Primate (Lepilemur leucopus) Dissertation for the award of the degree “Doctor rerum naturalium” (Dr. rer. nat.) of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen within the doctoral program Biology of the Georg-August University School of Science (GAUSS) submitted by Iris Dröscher from Scheifling, Austria Göttingen 2014 Thesis Committee: Prof. Dr. Peter M. Kappeler, Department of Sociobiology and Anthropology, Georg- August-Universität Göttingen, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center GmbH Prof. Dr. Eckhard W. Heymann, Department of Sociobiology and Anthropology, Georg- August-Universität Göttingen, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center GmbH Members of the Examination Board: Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Peter M. Kappeler Second Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Eckhard W. Heymann Further members of the Examination Board: Dr. Claudia Fichtel, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center GmbH Prof. Dr. Julia Ostner, Primate Social Evolution Group, Courant Research Centre Evolution of Social Behavior, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Dr. Oliver Schülke, Primate Social Evolution Group, Courant Research Centre Evolution of Social Behavior, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Dr. Dietmar Zinner, Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center GmbH Date of the oral examination: 12 December 2014 CONTENTS SUMMARY ………………………………………………………………………………1 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG …………………………………………………………………3 GENERAL INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………...5 CHAPTER
    [Show full text]
  • Dental Topography Indicates Ecological Contraction of Lemur Communities
    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 148:215–227 (2012) Dental Topography Indicates Ecological Contraction of Lemur Communities Laurie R. Godfrey,1* Julia M. Winchester,2,3 Stephen J. King,1 Doug M. Boyer,2,4 and Jukka Jernvall3 1Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 2Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8081 3Institute for Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 4Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210-2850 KEY WORDS dental ecology; complexity (OPCR); Dirichlet normal energy (DNE); subfossil lemurs ABSTRACT Understanding the paleoecology of extinct subfossil lemurs and compared these values to those of subfossil lemurs requires reconstruction of dietary prefer- an extant lemur sample. The two metrics succeeded in ences. Tooth morphology is strongly correlated with diet separating species in a manner that provides insights in living primates and is appropriate for inferring dietary into both food processing and diet. We used them to ecology. Recently, dental topographic analysis has shown examine the changes in lemur community ecology in great promise in reconstructing diet from molar tooth Southern and Southwestern Madagascar that accompa- form. Compared with traditionally used shearing metrics, nied the extinction of giant lemurs. We show that the dental topography is better suited for the extraordinary poverty of Madagascar’s frugivore community is a long- diversity of tooth form among subfossil lemurs and has standing phenomenon and that extinction of large-bodied been shown to be less sensitive to phylogenetic sources of lemurs in the South and Southwest resulted not merely shape variation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Influence of Herbivore Generated Inputs on Nutrient Cycling and Soil Processes in a Lower Montane Tropical Rain Forest of Puerto Rico
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Steven J. Fonte for the degree of Master of Science in Forest Science presented on March 5, 2003. Title: The Influence of Herbivore Generated Inputs on Nutrient Cycling and Soil Processes in a Lower Montane Tropical Rain Forest of Puerto Rico Abstract approved: Timothy D. Schowalter The role of insect herbivores in the nutrient cycling dynamics of forest ecosystems remains poorly understood. Although past research in herbivory has focused primarily on the deleterious effects that insects can haveon tree growth and mortality, the overall effects of herbivoryare more complex. Herbivores have the potential to alter key ecosystemprocesses in a number of ways. One is by altering the flow of nutrients from thecanopy to the forest floor. The studies presented here examine the effects that frass (insect excreta), greenfall (green leaf fragments) and herbivore modified throughfall, have on decompositionprocesses and soil nutrient dynamics. Both studies were carried out ina lower montane tropical rain forest near the El Verde Field Station, Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Puerto Rico. The first study presented here tested the hypotheses thatgreen leaves are of higher quality and decompose more rapidly than senesced leaves. Green and senesced leaves of four common native tree species (Dacryodes excelsa, Manilkara bidentata, Guarea guidonia and Cecropia schreberiana),were collected and analyzed for C, N, and complex C compounds. Litterbags containinggreen and senescent leaves of each species were placed in the field for up to 16 weeks in order to compare rates of litter decomposition. Green leaves contained significantly higher (p < 0.05) concentrations of N and lower lignin:N ratios than senescent leaves for all four species.
    [Show full text]
  • Interspecific Interactions in Phytophagous Insects: Competition
    Annual Reviews www.annualreviews.org/aronline Annu. Rev. Entomol. 1995. 40:297-331 Copyright © 1995 by Annual Reviews Inc. All rights reserved INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS IN PHYTOPHAGOUSINSECTS: Competition Reexamined and Resurrected Robert F. Denno Departmentof Entomology,University of Maryland,College Park, Maryland20742 Mark S. McClure TheConnecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, ValleyLaboratory, Cook Hill Road,Box 248, Windsor,Connecticut 06095 James R. Ott Departmentof Biology,Southwest Texas State University,601 University Drive, San Marcos,Texas 78666 KEYWORDS: facilitation, competition-mediating factors, competitive exclusion, niche, . resource partitioning by University of Minnesota- Law Library on 09/17/06. For personal use only. ABSTRACT Annu. Rev. Entomol. 1995.40:297-331. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org This review reevaluates the importanceof interspecific competitionin the populationbiology of phytophagousinsects and assesses factors that mediate competition. Anexamination of 193 pair-wise species interactions, repre- senting all major feeding guildsl providedinformation on the occurrence, frequency, symmetry,consequences, and mechanismsof competition. Inter- specific competitionoccurred in 76%of interactions, wasoften asymmetric, and wasfrequent in mostguilds (sap feeders, woodand stem borers, seed and fruit feeders) exceptfree-living mandibulatefolivores. Phytophagousinsects weremore likely to competeif they wereclosely related, introduced,sessile, aggregative,fed on discrete resources,and fed on forbs
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Flexibility and Conservation of Fleurette's Sportive Lemur
    Ecological flexibility and conservation of Fleurette’s sportive lemur, Lepilemur fleuretae, in the lowland rainforest of Ampasy, Tsitongambarika Protected Area By Marco Campera Oxford Brookes University Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy May 2018 i Abstract Ecological flexibility entails an expansion of niche breadth in response to different environmental conditions. Sportive lemurs Lepilemur spp. are known to minimise energetic costs via short distances travelled, small home ranges, increased resting time, and low metabolic rates. Very little information, however, is available in the eastern rainforest, the habitat where this genus has its highest diversity. I investigate whether L. fleuretae inhabiting Tsitongambarika (TGK), the southernmost lowland rainforest in Madagascar, shows similar behavioural and ecological adaptations to the sportive lemurs inhabiting dry and deciduous forests. I collected data from July 2015 to July 2016 at Ampasy, northernmost portion of TGK. To understand patterns of resource availability, I collected phenological data on 200 tree species. I explored the ecology of L. fleuretae by gathering data on its diet, ranging patterns, and by reconstructing the activity profiles via a novel method, the unsupervised learning algorithm on accelerometer data. I estimated the anthropogenic pressure in the area and I evaluated whether local management and researchers’ presence had an effect in decreasing it. Lepilemur fleuretae at Ampasy is hyperactive when compared to other species of this genus, with longer distances travelled, larger home ranges, and less time spent resting. The species seems to reduce the competition with the folivorous A. meridionalis by including a higher proportion of fruits and flowers in their diet than other sportive lemurs.
    [Show full text]
  • Advanced Phenology of Higher Trophic Levels Shifts Aphid
    ADVANCED PHENOLOGY OF HIGHER TROPHIC LEVELS SHIFTS APHID HOST PLANT PREFERENCES AND PERFORMANCE by MARIA L MULLINS B.S. University of Montana, 2010 B.A. University of Montana, 2010 A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences Department of Biology 2019 © 2019 Maria L Mullins All Rights Reserved This thesis for the Master of Sciences degree by Maria L Mullins has been approved for the Department of Biology by Emily Mooney, Chair Shane Heschel Cerian Gibbes Date May 8, 2019 ii Mullins, Maria L (M.Sc., Biology) Advanced phenology of higher trophic levels shifts aphid host plant preferences and performance Thesis directed by Assistant Professor Emily Mooney ABSTRACT The abundance of insect herbivores, such as aphids, is mediated by interactions with higher and lower trophic levels. Bottom-up processes can affect the phloem sap quality that aphids depend on for food, while natural enemies exert top-down control to directly and indirectly impact the success of aphids. This research asks (1) how phenological change across trophic levels affects host plant quality and selection for aphids, and (2) what mechanisms drive the ability of aphids to distinguish between potential hosts. We used a tri-trophic system to investigate these questions. Ligusticum porteri is a robust, perennial herb that hosts the sap-feeding aphid Aphis asclepiadis, and intraguild predators (Lygus spp.—lygus bugs) in a subalpine system near Gothic, Colorado. We used long term observational data to discover that species in this tri-trophic system respond differently to phenological cues, and when phenology of Lygus hesperus is advanced on early snowmelt years, aphid colonies do not reach high densities.
    [Show full text]
  • Tropical Herbivorous Phasmids, but Not Litter Snails, Alter Decomposition Rates by Modifying Litter Bacteria Chelse M
    University of Dayton eCommons Biology Faculty Publications Department of Biology 2018 Tropical Herbivorous Phasmids, but Not Litter Snails, Alter Decomposition Rates By Modifying Litter Bacteria Chelse M. Prather University of Dayton, [email protected] Gary E. Belovsky University of Notre Dame Sharon A. Cantrell Universidad del Turabo Gurabo Grizelle Gonzalez International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardın Botanico Sur Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/bio_fac_pub Part of the Biology Commons, and the Cell Biology Commons eCommons Citation Prather, Chelse M.; Belovsky, Gary E.; Cantrell, Sharon A.; and Gonzalez, Grizelle, "Tropical Herbivorous Phasmids, but Not Litter Snails, Alter Decomposition Rates By Modifying Litter Bacteria" (2018). Biology Faculty Publications. 238. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/bio_fac_pub/238 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Ecology, 99(4), 2018, pp. 782–791 © 2018 The Authors Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Tropical herbivorous phasmids, but not litter snails, alter
    [Show full text]